Bungie has now officially announced that Destiny 2‘s Halloween festivity, Festival of the Lost, will last for a week more than planned. The spooky festivities will be available to gamers until November 11th, meaning everyone will have more chances to not only get the event loot but also to bask in the Halloween ambiance.
Simply speaking he, Festival of the Lost, is the game designers’ and the gamers’ simultaneous Halloween celebration. The occasion consists of various Halloween related activities as well as superbly awesome special masks and unique random loot. Gambit players have been frequenting Haunted Sectors, figuratively slaughtering, and acquiring new arms along with the beauty aids items. But the festivities this year have not been without… let’s call them unexpected “spooky” surprises of the wrong sort.
To be honest, the community’s response to the extension has been a bit… mixed, to say the least. One part of the community is rejoicing and partying because of the additional time, while the other part is highlighting some serious concerns that have been haunting the event since its inception.
One such example is the remark made by skoochie_: “awesome is softlocking in altars fixed now i dont want to read patch notes for fear of immense disappointment.” Ouch! The soft locker bug in the Altars of Summoning must have certainly been hell for players. Besides, the game would just… halt during the activities and the players would be stuck and unable to complete their runs. Not exactly the kind of trick-or-treat scenario one thought they were signing up for.
And here’s the kicker – in spite of Bungie’s earlier claim that the soft lock problem had been sorted out the previous week, players are still coming up with problems. Xeno_Xcalibur remarked, “another soft lock, now the rituals can not finish locking you before getting to boss fight.” So, the problem might have morphed into something entirely different? Spooky indeed.
The issue of reward weapons has also been a cause of friction among the players. CalicoFlo stated, “This event was cool but can we not get bows or multishot slugs as the weapons? The smgs were awesome additions. But more desirable loot really helps doing the same activity for weeks.” But MrCarlisle went as far as to say, “Ngl I’d be grinding more if y’all had a new auto rifle to chase.”
The debate regarding the SMGs has been… highly controversial. For example, samson_fraser slammed the event weapons as “fcking atrocious” while calicoFlo maintained that Solstice SMG is “best in the game.” It’s the Great Pumpkin controversy all over again, only this time it involves more shooting.
On the other hand, some players are just… done with it. Celtic1Solo admitted, “I didn’t even bother this year. And if I could refund that season pass, I absolutely would.” Djianwood was even more blunt: “Not played for weeks. Game is dead.” Ouch.
Nevertheless, there is still a silver lining on the horizon! The enthusiasm of some players is such that they are actually looking forward to the expiration of the event extension period. For instance, Dapperstrated just shared some hype with a simple “Wooohoooo!!! 💯💯💯👍🏾” And POGGERSSS suggested that an “Increased holofoil drop rate would be appreciated by everyone” during this last week.
One more problem with the game is the holofoil drops. These cosmetic upgrades are just too rare for most players’ liking. _kzr7 even asked for “some compensation/boosted drop for the last week of the event” since players have been having technical issues all through.
Oh, what was I talking about again? Oh yes, the bigger picture here. This extension was announced just when the community of Destiny players has been… let’s say very vocal about their dissatisfaction with the game. Technical issues plus loot problems plus player burnout are some of the factors that have led the players to react as they did to the simple “one more week” announcement.
Some comments even began to drift into… other games’ territory? EeveesolutionSK informed that they are “too busy playing pokemon z-a” while Zoiid_Burger urged Bungie to “Make destiny 3 and scrap marathon.” I suppose the grass always looks greener on the other side, especially when you’re playing on PlayStation or Xbox.
Whether you are still participating in the Festival of the Lost or have given up and are just waiting for the game to get better before you return, the extension of the event is a great demotivator for players to take away the things they missed. Nonetheless, it remains true that the event, with all its technical ghosts and gameplay goblins, is somehow the biggest Halloween celebration in the Destiny universe.
